Conventional
field geology approaches were integrated with a high-resolution digital
terrain model to create a 3-D geologic model of the Solitary Channel system.
The feature sits on the proximal part of the deep-marine Tabernas Basin
and has been the subject of lively debate in the literature and during
field excursions. The fill of the system is a complex mixture of conglomerate,
coarse sandstone and mudstone (marlstone). Post-depositional faulting
and differential tilting on separated fault blocks has further challenged
earlier attempts at correlating lithology and their time-significant bounding
surfaces. In addition, parts of the fill contain inclined sandy beds that
appear to accrete laterally (toward the axis) and toward the upslope direction.
In addition, modern stream erosion dissects the system and, together with
the block faulting, allows for 3-D examination along nearly 2 km of exposure.

The combination
of stratigraphic and structural complexity and the 3-D exposures provide
an ideal application of the 3-D outcrop modeling approach that relies
on high-resolution laser scanning technology. The 2 km long exposure was
scanned, merged, and visualized in three workdays by two geologists. The
results give geologists the ability to position themselves in an infinite
number of virtual vantage points and to interrogate the outcrop
dataset similar to 3-D seismic data. In addition, structural reconstruction
enables more confident stratigraphic correlations of time-significant
bounding surfaces in the fill and new insight is gained into the origin
of laterally accreting depositional elements.